No English Teacher Can Avoid This

Duk poki is all over the place. Everyone spells it differently in English. Kids eat it everyday. There are food stands where usually ladies are making it. Kids buy a dixie cup full of it with two toothpicks to eat it with.

When I first went to Korea I didn't like it. It was like no food I ever tasted. I didn't like the texture. I said to one English teacher that I didn't like the squishiness of it. (is that a word, guess not) Over time I guess it grew on me. 

Sometimes when I was hungry at work there was nothing easy to get except cookies or a drink from a grocery store or duk poki. Once during break time I asked a kid to buy it for me. He thought a minute and then said "Duk poki, my too" meaning he would get some too. 

Later on I hated seeing the school trash full of dixie cups with some duk poki sauce and the toothpicks. I know anyone working at a school or academy stressed over this. 

Korean Barbeque

It's all over. Almost every time I went out to eat with my friends or co-workers we went to a barbeque restaurant. Beef, pork, chicken, duck, ribs. Always with a lot of sides. Free refills of sides. Just pay for meat and drinks. Reasonable prices. 

It's very hard to be veg in Korea because almost every time Koreans go out to dinner they eat this. Sometimes they go to a sushi restaurant or a Chinese one. Occasionally they will try something totally different. 

Koreans call it special food but you can't call it that anymore.